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Most people would say that the true goal of education is to give children everything they need to be successful in life after school. While this is the truth it is not necessarily what all children get out of school. There are many aspects of our education system that are trying to force all of the students to be the same and teach them that there is only one way to do everything.
According to James Baldwin “the paradox of education is precisely this—that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated…But no society is really anxious to have that kind of person around”(198). As children grow up and are educated they begin to form their own opinions about certain subjects, but in school these opinions do not matter. Instead of being taught to stick to their own opinions they are taught that things must be done a certain way. This is not fulfilling the purpose of preparing them for the real world, because in the real world they have to do things on their own and form their own opinions. There will not be anyone standing in front of them telling them the right way to do everything.
Similarly the opinions that the children do form are highly influenced by what they are told in schools. The way that the teacher feels about a topic or how it is taught in general definitely influences the way that a child views that particular topic. This shows the bias in our school system. While the opinions might differ based on where in the United Sates the school is located, this still takes place. Some people might see this as harmless. But, if the views of the students are being influenced by the schools, then the child never really learns how to form and support their own opinions.
Another huge way that our educations system does not meet the true goals of education is by saying, “there are only two types of people – academic and non-academic; smart people and non smart people”( Robinson 1). In most schools there are programs such as honors and advanced placement(AP). While these programs are great because they challenge the students that need to be challenged. They almost always have an opposite, that is for students that in the schools opinion are not “as smart” as the other students. Some people might think that this not a bad thing and that there needs to be a level of every subject for all students. While it is true that every student should be in the level that they are ready for, this system gives students a label based on what class they are. They could be labeled as not as smart because they are in the lower English class. When in reality they are very smart, and their strong subject is math not English. This means that are some students that are not receiving everything out of school that the other students are.
The education system in our society is right for some students, and these students get everything they need out of the time they spend in the education system. On the other hand there are some students that for one reason or another do not get everything that they need out of the education system, which means they may not be as prepared for life after school. The education system is always changing and there are people that will always be able to find flaws in it. The teachers and schools do everything they can to give every student the best education possible. As society continues to change so will the education system, and they will always do whatever is believed to be the best for the students.